As the financial health of most universities goes from bad to worse, a little-known nonprofit college in California is gushing returns and expanding nationwide by cribbing from the for-profit playbook.
As the financial health of most universities goes from bad to worse, San Diego's National University is gushing cash and expanding nationwide. The rest of higher education should take notes.e’re going to take National national,” puffs Michael Cunningham, chancellor of San Diego’s National University. It’s an admittedly cheesy slogan, one that Cunningham, who made a fortune printing financial reports in New Jersey before a midlife reinvention in higher ed, repeats often.
The pandemic, a catastrophe for most traditional colleges, has played perfectly into National’s strengths. It has accelerated the already growing demand for online education, especially among the adult learners whom National seeks to enroll. Searching for something to occupy his time, he began teaching courses at NYU’s Stern business school part-time. In 2000 he moved to Southern California and began teaching at San Diego State’s Fowler business school while pursuing a doctorate in education from NYU. After earning his Ph.D. in 2005, he was recruited back to his former printing company, which was floundering. He promptly turned it around and sold it to a private equity firm in 2008.
In the spring of 2020, when Covid lockdowns forced colleges to shut their campuses and scramble to bring classes online, National had already made the transition. A decade ago, roughly 60% of National’s classes were in person, held at what Cunningham describes as 20,000-square-foot microcampuses in secondary California cities like Redding and Chula Vista. By 2020, National was approaching 70% online; today 88% of its delivery is digital.
Shortly after the report came out, David Andrews, National’s president, unexpectedly resigned. “He just decided it was time for him to step down. There was no discomfort or angst,” says Cunningham, who filled in as interim president immediately after Andrews stepped down.
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